Weaning tips and recipes from MummyCooks.ie

Moving your baby onto solid food can be a bewildering experience. It takes a little time for them to learn to take food from a spoon and then figure out how to move it from the front of the tongue to the back of the mouth.

Babies can vary in terms of how long it takes to accept solids. Some will take only a short amount of time whereas others may take several weeks.

Mummy Cooks follows what experts advise, that parents should look to start weaning their baby just before 6 months so that baby has a chance to build up to what is ahead at six months of age.

At 6 months we would then encourage parents to introduce lots of variety into their baby’s diet. Including herbs and spices and a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and grains. It’s all about getting baby used to different tastes and textures and so they are less likely to become a fussy eater later on.

Signs to show your baby is ready:

- They can sit up well without support.- They are developing a ‘pincer’ grasp.- They are starting to demand feeds more often.- They have lost the tongue-thrust reflex and don’t automatically push solids out of their mouth.- They are a keen mealtime participant and eye up your food.- They’re ready and willing to chew.- They used to sleep through the night but are now waking up.

When weaning your baby it is important not to affect their milk feeds, in order to avoid this we recommend following the timeline below.

First Meal: The first meal to introduce is the mid-morning meal. Offer your baby their milk at 11am and then give them their solid food between 12 and 12:30pm. Make sure they are not too hungry as this is just a taste. To start with we recommend 1oz/30ml Babypotz so as not to affect your babies milk intake.

Second Meal: If you feel your baby has taken well to the first few tastes move onto the second meal about 3 days later. The second meal is breakfast and again should only be a taste about 1oz/30ml Babypotz.

Third Meal: After the first week you should start to move your baby onto their third meal of the day and you should also increase the amount of food offered to your baby. Introduce the third meal in the evening at about 5pm after giving them an afternoon milk feed at 3pm. The portion size should be about 2oz/60ml pots.

From Six Months: At this stage you should have established a good eating pattern with three meals per day along with baby’s milk. You can start to increase texture and add finger foods. Baby should be offered 3oz/90ml portions 3 times per day. If you find your baby is still hungry offer pieces of fruit and fingers foods.